CONGRESS, UNITED STATES. 



101 



tiiry . tor the purpose of delivering the communication 

 in 'IHT.^OM mul (.'"iit'erring upon the iubjcct to wliioli 

 it ivIatoH. 1 (Irsirc to proceed to Washington in the 

 tMiner Torpedo, commanded ly Lieutenant Hunter 

 ,n, <>f i hr Confederate States Navy, no person 

 being on board but Honorable Mr. Quid, myself, und 

 the boat's officers and orew. 



Yours, most respectfully, 



ALEX. II. STEPHENS. 

 To 8. H. LEE, Admiral. 



" This is directed to S. H. Lee, admiral Here 

 is the answer : 

 Acting Rear-Admiral S. II. LEE, Hampton Roads : 



The request of Alexander H. Stephens is inad- 

 missible. 



GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy. 



"You will acknowledge that Mr. Stephens's 

 Illinium- mission failed. The Confederate au- 

 thorities gave to that mission as much dignity 

 and character as possihle. They supposed that 

 of all men in the South Mr. Stephens most 

 nearly had your confidence. They selected him 

 to be the bearer of messages for the sake of 

 hum unity in behalf of the brave Federal soldiers 

 who were unfortunately prisoners of war. The 

 Federal Government would not even receive 

 him; the Federal authorities would, not hear 

 him. 



" What was the next effort? After Mr. Ste- 

 phens's mission failed, and after the commis- 

 sioner for the exchange of prisoners, Colonel 

 Ould, having exhausted all his efforts to get 

 the cartel renewed, on the 24th of January, 

 1864, wrote the following letter to Major-Gen- 

 eral E. A. Hitchcock, agent of exchange on the 

 Federal side : 



CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMERICA.WAH DEPARTMENT, 

 RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, January 24, 1864. 



SIR : In view of the present difficulties attending 

 the exchange and release of prisoners, I propose that 

 all such on either side shall DC attended by a proper 

 number of their own surgeons, who, under rules to 

 be established, shall be permitted to take charge of 

 their health and comfort. 1 also propose that these 

 surgeons shall act as commissaries, with power to 

 receive and distribute such contributions ot money, 

 food, clothing, and medicines, as may be forwarded 

 for the relief of the prisoners. 1 further propose 

 that these surgeons shall be selected by their own 

 government, and that they shall have full liberty, 

 at any and all times, through the agents of exchange, 

 to make reports not only of their own acts, but of 

 any matters relating to the welfare of the prisoners. 

 Respectfullv, your obedient servant, 



ROBERT OULD, Agent of Exchange. 

 Major-General E. A. HITCHCOCK, Agent of Exchange. 



" But, sir, I have read a letter from the Con- 

 federate commissioner of exchange, written in 

 1864, proposing that each side send surgeons 

 with the prisoners ; that they nurse and treat 

 the prisoners ; that the Federal authorities 

 should send as many as they pleased ; that 

 those surgeons be commissioned also as com- 

 missaries to furnish supplies of clothing and 

 food, and everything else needed for the com- 

 fort of prisoners. 



" Now, sir, how did the Federal Government 

 treat that offer? It broke the cartel for the 

 exchange of prisoners ; it refused to entertain 

 ft proposition, even when Mr. Stephens headed 



the commission, to renew it; and then, sir, 

 when the Confederates proposed that their own 

 surgeons should accompany the prisoner* of 

 the respective armies, the Federal authorities 

 did not answer the letter. No reply was ever 

 received. 



"Then, again, in August, 1864, the Confed- 

 erates made two more propositions. I will 

 state that the cartel of exchange was broken 

 by the Federal authorities for certain alleged 

 reasons. Well, in August, 1864, prisoners ac- 

 cumulating on both sides to such an extent, 

 the Federal Government having refused every 

 proposition from the Confederate authorities 

 to provide for the comfort and treatment of 

 these prisoners, the Confederates next proposed, 

 in a letter from Colonel Ould, dated the 10th 

 of August, 1864, waiving every objection the 

 Federal Government had made, to agree to any 

 and all terms to renew the exchange of prison- 

 ers, man for man, and officer for officer, as the 

 Federal Government should prescribe. Yet, 

 sir, the latter rejected that proposition. It 

 took a second letter to bring an answer to that 

 proposition. 



" Then, again, in that same month of Au- 

 gust, 1864, the Confederate authorities did this : 

 Finding that the Federal Government would 

 not exchange prisoners at all, that it would 

 not let surgeons go into the Confederacy ; find- 

 ing that it would not let medicines be sent into 

 the Confederacy; meanwhile, the ravages of 

 war continuing and depleting the scant sup- 

 plies of the South, which was already unable 

 to feed adequately its own defenders, and much 

 less able to properly feed and clothe the thou- 

 sands of prisoners in Confederate prisons, what 

 did the Confederates propose ? They proposed 

 to send the Federal sick and wounded prison- 

 ers without equivalent. Now, sir, I want the 

 House and the country to understand this: 

 that in August, 1864, the Confederate Govern- 

 ment officially proposed to the Federal au- 

 thorities that if they would send steamships 

 or transportation in any form to Savannah, 

 they should have their sick and wounded pris- 

 oners without equivalent. That proposition, 

 communicated to the Federal authorities in 

 August, 1864, was not answered until Decem- 

 ber, 1864. In December, 1864, the Federal 

 Government sent ships to Savannah. Now, 

 the records will show that the chief suffering 

 at Andersonville was between August and De- 

 cember. The Confederate authorities sought 

 to avert it by asking the Federal Government 

 to come and take its prisoners without equiva- 

 lent, without return, and it refused to do that 

 until four or five months had elapsed. 



"That is not the only appeal which was 

 made to the Federal Government. I now call 

 the attention of the House to another appi-nl. 

 It was from the Federal prisoners themselves. 

 They knew, as well as the Southern people did, 

 the mission of Mr. Stephens. They knew the 

 offer of January 24th, for surgeons, for medi- 

 cine and clothing, for comforts and food, and 



